Star Wars: The Soul of a Sith

Chapter 03

            Ren perceived himself floating in an endless, shimmering blackness where all was tranquil.  He had silenced his mind to let the Force show him what it wanted to, surrendering his consciousness completely over to it.  There was a trick to this and not even his mother had reached the levels of perfect consciousness to which Ren could ascend.  She suffered the limitation that nearly all Sith possessed: a self-focused, predatory mind, incapable of true stillness.  Ren had taught himself, like the ancient masters from thousands upon thousands of years ago. 

            The first image appeared: his mother, fighting a dark figure.  All of her preternatural speed and elegant skill were focused on this fight.  She had begun as the prey, Ren could ascertain, but from the dismembered bodies all around her it seemed the tides of the contest had taken a dramatic turn.  The one remaining combatant was fighting hard, with twin crimson lightsabers.  He was faster than Ren, and more skilled, yet he stood no chance against his mother.  She was only biding her time, playing with him, seeking out his fear.  She wanted to break her opponent and learn what he knew.

Ren's vision flashed forward several minutes.  The Sith, clad in black, was clamped down to a chair, his hood drawn back to reveal a dark, reptilian alien face with black Sith markings around slitted deep brown eyes.  His right arm had been severed close to the shoulder.  The wound had been mostly cauterized but black blood was still dripping out onto the floor.  He would bleed to death soon.  Ren could see the scene as if he were floating just on the edges of it.

            "Who is your master," Ren heard his mother ask.  She held her still blazing light saber out so that the tip was only centimeters from the man's groin. 

            "He said you would already know," the lizard creature hissed.

            "Speak it," she whispered, edging her saber closer.  Smoke started to rise from the fabric of his pants.

            "Kshhh!" The alien hissed.  "It is Sakar!"

            "What does he want with me?"

            "He doesn't care about you, you stupid witch, he wants-"

            The old woman's lightsaber moved in a sudden, perfect slash across the alien's neck, severing his head.  She turned suddenly and looked at Ren as if he were all of a sudden standing within the vision as a part of it.  "You little fool!  You're here with me!  How are you doing this?!  How did you break through the veil?"

            Ren realized that his mother had attempted to obfuscate herself from being observed through the Force.  It should have been enough to block him out even if he were seeking her, but he had somehow pierced it without even realizing.

            "I didn't mean to," he managed to communicate through the currents between them.

            "All that power you have," she said, bowing her head, "it's going to get you Killed!  You've never encountered other Sith.  You have no idea how unique you are.  You have no idea what they will do when they find out about your gifts.  I told you to disappear!"

            "I am disappearing," he said.  "I'm already off the planet."

            "Good," she said, "but that isn't enough.  You cannot reach out like this to me again.  Your aura in the Force is too brilliant; it burns like a great beacon that will lead our enemies right to you. You need to master control and subtlety, and until you can you need to hide." 

            "Who is Sakar," said Ren.

            His mother's jaw tightened.  "Someone who could kill you very easily.  Do not let him find you."  Her head cocked to the side suddenly, and after a few seconds she whispered: "More come.  You must leave."